Molson Coors trials low-carbon glass beer bottles

The Molson Coors Beverage Company has launched a low-carbon glass beer bottle following a trial which reduced the carbon impact of its bottle production by up to 90%.

The trial, in partnership with Encirc, produced two million glass bottles for its Staropramen brand, which are now available across the UK.

The bottles are manufactured using up to 100% cullet – recycled or waste glass – up from 75% previously used in its green glass bottles. As well as significantly increasing the recycled content of the bottles, the trial uses renewable and sustainable biofuels rather than those traditionally used in the glass production process. As a result, the carbon footprint of each bottle is reduced by up to 90%.

Molson Coors and Encirc have been bottling partners for almost 25 years, and this latest initiative forms part of Molson Coors’ wider sustainability goals, which include reducing its carbon emissions across its global operations by 50% by 2025.

The trial forms part of a project undertaken by Encirc (a Vidrala company) and industry research and technology organisation, Glass Futures under the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Energy Innovation Programme.

Fraser Thomson, operations director at Molson Coors Beverage Company, said: “Sustainable packaging solutions form a core part of Our Imprint sustainability goals and our global aim to reduce carbon emissions from our direct operations by 50% by 2025. This trial is a major step for us in reducing the carbon footprint of our much-loved products, and we look forward to continuing to explore how we can implement this across our wider portfolio on a larger scale in the future.”